christmas 2011

(I'll have to get him a Nook Color)

Travel

Cruising around New Zealand January 2011

There’s our ship Dawn Princess in the harbor at Tauranga. We’re flying over in a scenic helicopter ride, beautiful day.
Christchurch was sad - and it was four weeks before the second big earthquake.

The gannet rookery at Napier
was interesting
- a long bumpy ride to get there.

Life on the ocean wave - pizzas and balloons

Nova Scotia in the Fall with Country Farm Perennials

Oct 2011

Black Beach on Cape Breton,
a typical stony Maritime beach.

We paid homage to Anne of Green Gables at THE house, lovingly preserved by the National Parks.

a four-sided lighthouse on
Prince Edward Island

Wild blueberries in Maine

David, Helen, Carol and Jim Burger at Biltmore in Asheville North Carolina
Fabulous place and fabulous hosts!

Fish lunch at the Riverside Cafe St Marks
in North Florida with Nancy and Al Merritt

Wakulla Springs in North Florida
near Tallahassee and an alligator.

Abandoned by Qantas!

While we drove around North Florida not knowing about Qantas's strike our travel agent was busy arranging another flight home.

We had to spend an extra day in Los Angeles which was no hardship.

Qantas refunded all our expenses even to Starbucks' coffees
AND

we've ben given a free airfare each
to New Zealand in March.

Work

I guess there has to be some - David isn't ready to retire as there's always another orchard to plant and another market to crack.

This year seedEnergy's AGM was at Port Arthur.
David, Peter Gore and Andy Cameron take some time off from meetings.

The internet book selling business is in the doldrums and I've done very little this year.
I can't blame eBooks because I too have embraced them: the girl at the Library who said having an iPhone would change my life was right - it has.

I download and read books on either the iPhone or sideload onto my Nook Color: newer books I buy from Amazon but there are lots of old favourites available free on various sites. I reread all the Anne of Green Gables while I was in Canada.

I'm still President of Friends of the Library Mount Gambier which takes a lot of time.
We are successful event organisers and have made a lot of money for the Library.
I'm sure there will always be a need for actual
real books.

Di Cameron and I, as treasurer and secretary of the Garden Club, were interviewed by a garden magazine Gardening SA in Di's garden.
It is supposed to appear in February.